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Students working overtime to conquer FCAT

Ossyriah Payne, 13 and Alishia Williams, 13, create words with a suffix during Saturday school at Sweetwater Branch Academy on Saturday, December 10, 2011 in Gainesville. The charter school began Saturday school to help prepare students for the FCAT.

Maria Farias/ Correspondent

By Jackie AlexanderStaff writer

Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 6:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 6:46 p.m.

Sweetwater Branch Academy students spent part of this past Saturday filing into Suzanne White's class to learn about prefixes and suffixes.

To aid struggling students, the charter school is conducting an 11-week, voluntary FCAT preparation class that meets on Saturdays.

But will the extra preparation translate into better student performance on the test, which will be administered in April to public school students?

Alachua County educators say they're not sure.

New minimum achievement scores set by the state Department of Education have made it tougher for students to score at the highest levels.

Sweetwater Branch, whose elementary school last year received an F grade from the state, has nearly 300 students from kindergarten to 10th grade.

The middle school received an A grade.

Murat Uncu, a Sweetwater Branch math teacher, said he started Saturday school for his students two years ago. This year, the rest of the school and other subjects were added.

"I'm pretty sure it helps for the struggling ones," he said. "It's helping a lot, actually, for the math especially."

Some students just need the extra time outside of class, despite teachers' best efforts, Uncu said.

"Of course, we have all the things covered in the class," he said, adding that it's hard teaching seventh-grade math when the students are still weak on sixth-grade standards.

"I cannot guarantee that every kid gets it 100 percent in that class period."

It's up to individual schools and teachers to offer after-school or weekend FCAT preparation, said Karen Clarke, Alachua County Public Schools director of secondary curriculum.

"I think there's enough pressure already for teachers for scores, and that's always increasing," she said. "We ask our teachers to teach their standards for their subject area and their grade level."

Hidden Oak Elementary third-graders can attend tutoring on Wednesdays after early dismissal, Principal Ron Knowles said. Fifth-grade students also can attend morning tutoring.

But Kanapaha Middle School Principal Jennifer Wise said her teachers are advised to get it done within the school day.

"If you have the best teachers doing the best work during every instructional minute, then kids are going to be prepared," she said.

If students are going to get test fatigue, White said, "it'll be because of all the emphasis on it from the state."

Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson recently unveiled new FCAT cut scores, or the minimum points needed to earn a certain score. The FCAT is on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 3 marking proficiency.

The new cut score levels were designed to make it tougher for students to pass the exam and even tougher for them to receive the highest score. According to a state Department of Education presentation, the number of high school sophomores passing the exam would drop from 60 percent to 52 percent.

Robinson said in a statement that the higher minimum-point levels would ensure students leave school college-ready.

David Miller, a University of Florida College of Education professor of research methods and evaluation, said that unfortunately for teachers and students, the cut scores have become a political bargaining tool.

"It's a political issue of ‘we can be tougher on students,' " he said. That doesn't necessarily translate into what students should be achieving, he said.

The problem is that the FCAT is designed to test what skills students have, Miller said.

"What percent pass and fail shouldn't be part of this," he said, but that's where the cut score discussion centers.

And it will be even harder to determine if students are outperforming their peers in other states, Alachua County Deputy Superintendent Sandy Hollinger said.

"When they go to raise those cut scores, we don't know what that means (in the national scope)," she said.

Hollinger said she expects more kids might fail the test.

"If I was a parent and my kid was taking the FCAT reading, as a parent I don't know how they're doing," she said. "I think it's extremely confusing and upsetting to parents."

<p>Sweetwater Branch Academy students spent part of this past Saturday filing into Suzanne White's class to learn about prefixes and suffixes.</p><p>To aid struggling students, the charter school is conducting an 11-week, voluntary FCAT preparation class that meets on Saturdays.</p><p>But will the extra preparation translate into better student performance on the test, which will be administered in April to public school students?</p><p>Alachua County educators say they're not sure.</p><p>New minimum achievement scores set by the state Department of Education have made it tougher for students to score at the highest levels.</p><p>Sweetwater Branch, whose elementary school last year received an F grade from the state, has nearly 300 students from kindergarten to 10th grade.</p><p>The middle school received an A grade.</p><p>Murat Uncu, a Sweetwater Branch math teacher, said he started Saturday school for his students two years ago. This year, the rest of the school and other subjects were added.</p><p>"I'm pretty sure it helps for the struggling ones," he said. "It's helping a lot, actually, for the math especially."</p><p>Some students just need the extra time outside of class, despite teachers' best efforts, Uncu said.</p><p>"Of course, we have all the things covered in the class," he said, adding that it's hard teaching seventh-grade math when the students are still weak on sixth-grade standards.</p><p>"I cannot guarantee that every kid gets it 100 percent in that class period."</p><p>It's up to individual schools and teachers to offer after-school or weekend FCAT preparation, said Karen Clarke, Alachua County Public Schools director of secondary curriculum.</p><p>"I think there's enough pressure already for teachers for scores, and that's always increasing," she said. "We ask our teachers to teach their standards for their subject area and their grade level."</p><p>Hidden Oak Elementary third-graders can attend tutoring on Wednesdays after early dismissal, Principal Ron Knowles said. Fifth-grade students also can attend morning tutoring.</p><p>But Kanapaha Middle School Principal Jennifer Wise said her teachers are advised to get it done within the school day.</p><p>"If you have the best teachers doing the best work during every instructional minute, then kids are going to be prepared," she said.</p><p>Suzanne White, a Sweetwater Branch language arts teacher, said the additional preparation time can't hurt.</p><p>"If we have the ability to be here for the kids to emphasize some of the things in class, why not?" she said.</p><p>Teachers are paid extra to administer the Saturday classes.</p><p>"We come for the students," she said. "We do that every day, but it's nice to know we're here for a little bit extra."</p><p>Uncu said he can see his students performing better with the extra time.</p><p>"Practice makes perfect, especially for math," he said.</p><p>Although the program is 11 weeks long, students don't have to attend all of the sessions, which are designed to engage students in ways that can't be accomplished in class, Sweetwater teachers said.</p><p>Teachers aren't spending time administering practice tests, Uncu said.</p><p>If students are going to get test fatigue, White said, "it'll be because of all the emphasis on it from the state."</p><p>Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson recently unveiled new FCAT cut scores, or the minimum points needed to earn a certain score. The FCAT is on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 3 marking proficiency.</p><p>The new cut score levels were designed to make it tougher for students to pass the exam and even tougher for them to receive the highest score. According to a state Department of Education presentation, the number of high school sophomores passing the exam would drop from 60 percent to 52 percent.</p><p>Robinson said in a statement that the higher minimum-point levels would ensure students leave school college-ready.</p><p>David Miller, a University of Florida College of Education professor of research methods and evaluation, said that unfortunately for teachers and students, the cut scores have become a political bargaining tool.</p><p>"It's a political issue of 'we can be tougher on students,' " he said. That doesn't necessarily translate into what students should be achieving, he said.</p><p>The problem is that the FCAT is designed to test what skills students have, Miller said.</p><p>"What percent pass and fail shouldn't be part of this," he said, but that's where the cut score discussion centers.</p><p>And it will be even harder to determine if students are outperforming their peers in other states, Alachua County Deputy Superintendent Sandy Hollinger said.</p><p>"When they go to raise those cut scores, we don't know what that means (in the national scope)," she said.</p><p>Hollinger said she expects more kids might fail the test.</p><p>"If I was a parent and my kid was taking the FCAT reading, as a parent I don't know how they're doing," she said. "I think it's extremely confusing and upsetting to parents."</p>